India lost 0-3 against Qatar
2026 FIFA World Cup Second Round Qualifiers: India suffered a 0-3 defeat against Asian champions Qatar in the second match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup second round qualifiers on Tuesday. The Indian team tried to take on Qatar in this Group A match but the visiting team dominated the entire 90 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium. Their margin of victory would have been bigger had the team not missed some chances. Mustafa Tarek Mashal (4th minute), Almeoz Ali (47th minute) and Yusuf Adurisagh (86th minute) scored for Qatar.
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Four years ago, the Indian team held Qatar to a goalless draw at their home ground. The team came into the field inspired by that match but could hardly create the few scoring chances. At the end of the first half, India had two chances but the team wasted them. The Indian team, which beat Kuwait 1-0 in its opening match of the second round of qualifiers on November 16, has a chance to qualify for the next round by finishing second in the group.
The Indian defense was exposed at the very beginning of the match. The team conceded the goal in the fourth minute. On the corner kick, three Qatari players exchanged passes inside the Indian box but none of the home team’s defenders could touch the ball. Mashal opened the team’s account with a right-footed ground kick past goalkeeper Amarinder Singh.
Coach Steamek gave Amarinder a chance to replace the experienced Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. After this, Akram Afif missed three chances due to which the Indian team avoided falling behind by a huge margin. Afif missed to extend the team’s goal difference in the 14th, 22nd and 26th minutes after missing an easy scoring chance in the second minute. After this, Amarinder made a brilliant save on Mashal’s header.
Before the intermission, the Indian team created two chances with the team missing the equalizer on the second chance. Udanta Singh and Anirudh Thapa showed good ball control and passed to Lalangmavia Ralte but he failed to place a decent shot from the edge of the box. After this, Thapa missed another easy chance. To score, he only had to beat Qatari goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham but his effort went wide of the goal post.
The Indian team showed the strength to make a comeback at the end of the first half, but Almeoz Ali’s goal at the start of the second half increased the team’s lead to 2–0. Ali scored four goals for the team in an 8–1 win over Afghanistan. In the 63rd minute of the match, Sahl Abdul Samad entered the field in place of Thapa.
Within two minutes he had a chance to open the team’s account but failed to capitalize on the chance created by Suresh Singh. In the 86th minute of the match, Adurisagh scored off a cross from Mohamed Albayti to give Qatar a 3-0 lead. The Indian team will play its next match in the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Afghanistan on March 21 next year at a neutral venue in Dushanbe (Tajikistan).
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